Jayjay's POV.
I am so incredibly mad at Keifer right now. In fact, I officially hate this guy.
"Jayjay, please just listen to me—" he pleaded, his heavy footsteps following me closely down the hallway.
"Shut up, Keifer! Don't talk to me!" I snapped loudly over my shoulder, storming straight into our bedroom.
He was right on my heels, but the exact second I crossed the threshold, I slammed the heavy wooden door shut and twisted the lock. A satisfying thud echoed from the other side—the door had slammed right into his face. Serves him completely right!
"SLEEP ON THE COUCH!" I shouted through the wood before spinning around and heading into the bathroom.
What he did today was absolutely unforgivable. Okay... fine. Maybe I am overreacting just a tiny bit, but still!
I turned on the shower, intentionally twisting the knob all the way to the right. Ice-cold water instantly blasted out. Honestly, it was a bit chilly outside, and a sane person would have taken a nice, steaming hot shower. But my brain was practically on fire with rage, and I desperately needed to clear my head, so I forced myself under the freezing water.
Flashback:
Earlier today, we were supposed to go on a school field trip. I didn't even know exactly where we were heading—some big university or college campus. Keifer was the one who had filled out all the permission forms, so he was the only one with the details. Either way, as we got ready to leave, I was bursting with excitement.
"I'm going to sit right next to you, hubby," I chirped happily, wrapping my arms tightly around his arm as we walked.
He let out a rich chuckle, looking down at me. "Okay, okay, whatever you say, my queen," he teased, and I giggled.
When we finally reached the destination and got out of the car, the entire student body of HVIS was already there. Since it was a massive joint school visit, the place was completely packed. But right before we could head inside the main hall, a sudden emergency hit me.
The washroom!
"Baby, I really need to use the washroom. Save my seat right next to yours!" I told him urgently. He nodded in understanding, and I bolted.
Finding a restroom in that massive, sprawling building felt like trying to escape a maze. By the time I finally finished and made my way back to the grand auditorium where the main announcements were being held, the room was already filled. I scanned the rows anxiously, looking for Keifer.
There he was, sitting in the second-to-last row. A bright smile instantly spread across my face, but it vanished flat a millisecond later when my eyes drifted to the seat right next to him.
There was already a girl sitting in my spot.
A hot wave of anger instantly flared up inside me. How dare that Watson let someone else sit there! I marched right past his row, pausing just long enough to whisper a sharp, "I hate you," before stomping all the way to the very last row. I sat down in the furthest corner, as far away from Keifer as physically possible.
The entire time the speaker was talking, my eyes kept aggressively drifting back to Keifer and that girl. At one point, her pen accidentally slipped off her desk and rolled away. And Keifer? HE LEANED DOWN AND PICKED IT UP FOR HER!
HE PICKED IT UP FOR HER!
Oh, I hated him double now.
On the way back home, the moment we reached his car, I unceremoniously threw myself into the back seat.
Keifer paused, looking at me through the rearview mirror with a raised eyebrow. "Am I your personal driver now? Come sit in the front."
I just crossed my arms tightly over my chest and stared intensely out of the window, completely ignoring him.
"Jay," he called out.
Nothing.
"Jayjay," he tried again.
"..."
"My wifey."
"..."
"My cute baby."
"Shut up, Keifer! Don't talk to me!" I finally snapped, glaring at him through the mirror. "Go baby that girl from earlier instead!"
Keifer looked at me, completely shocked. "Jay, it's really not what it looked like," he began to explain.
I didn't answer. Fed up, he put the car in park, climbed out, opened the back door, and slid into the seat right next to me. I immediately whipped around, turning my back on him and staring out the opposite window. Suddenly, I felt his large hands wrap gently around my waist. I instantly slapped them away.
Without missing a beat, he moved in a swift motion, hugging me tightly from behind and resting his chin heavily on my shoulder. I leaned down and bit his arm as hard as I could.
"Ow!" he muttered, immediately letting go.
But a second later, he tried to lean in again. I spun around completely and punched him right in the chest. "First, you let that girl sit right next to you, and then you playfully pick up her pen for her? Wow, Mark Keifer Watson, just wow! Don't you dare touch me!" I yelled, slapping his hands away yet again.
"I didn't let her sit there, Jay! She just sat down without even asking me," he explained quickly, his hands raised in surrender. "I was literally about to tell her to move when the teacher walked right into the room. And as for the pen, it literally rolled right under my chair, so I just picked it up to be polite."
Even with the explanation, I was still completely furious. "You should have told her to move anyway, I don't care! Now get back in the front and start this stupid car!" I demanded, my voice getting louder.
"I swear on your head, I'm completely innocent," Keifer said softly, reaching out to place his hand tenderly on top of my head to prove his honesty.
I swatted his hand away like it was a fly. "Remove it! Now you're fake swearing on my head because you want it to break? Is that it?!" I yelled angrily.
Keifer blinked, looking genuinely offended. "What?"
"You heard me! Now start the car!"
"I'm not starting this car until you get your butt into the passenger seat," he challenged, crossing his arms.
"Kwanan, start the car right now," I commanded, glaring at him.
His expression hardened slightly. "Don't call me that."
"Then start the car."
"Not until you come sit in the front."
Neither of us backed down. I sat there quietly, turning my back on him, while he sat stubbornly right behind me. Minutes ticked by, and it was starting to get really late. Realizing we were just going to sit in a parking lot forever, I finally let out a loud groan, threw open the door, and stomped up to the front passenger seat.
He silently followed, climbing into the driver's seat and finally starting the engine. Throughout the entire drive home, he kept reaching over, trying to hold my hand. But I kept both of my hands firmly locked in my lap. When we stopped at a red light, he gently reached out to tuck a stray strand of hair behind my ear, but I aggressively shifted my entire body closer to the door, pressing myself against the window.
We reached the mansion in total, icy silence.
End Of The Flashback.
I finally stepped out of the bathroom, drying myself off. When I walked into the bedroom, I saw Keifer sitting casually on the edge of the bed with a small smirk on his face.
I rolled my eyes dramatically. "I thought I told you to go sleep on the couch."
His smirk dropped, replaced by a slight pout. "My back is going to hurt like crazy on that thing. Please, Jay?"
Looking at his expression, something deep inside my chest instantly softened. I hated how easily he could do that to me. I let out a defeated sigh and gave him a reluctant nod.
He immediately stood up, a victorious smile breaking across his face, and pulled me into a tight hug. "See? I knew my wife still loves me."
I forcefully pushed him away, crossing my arms. "I hate you."
He didn't seem to care about my words at all. He stepped right back into my space, his fingers gently brushing against my damp hair. His brows furrowed. "You actually showered with cold water? Your hair is freezing. Come here, let me dry it for you. And I'm turning off the AC."
He reached out for the remote on the nightstand, but I snatched it before he could touch it. "No need. The AC is staying on, and I am absolutely not drying my hair."
"But you're going to get sick, Jayjay," he said, his voice laced with genuine concern.
"Why do you even care? Go care for that girl instead!" I snapped.
Without giving him a chance to respond, I turned on my heel and walked downstairs to the kitchen. I opened the freezer, pulled out a massive tub of ice cream, grabbed a giant spoon, and marched right back up to the bedroom.
Keifer was currently in the bathroom. I sat right in the middle of the bed and began aggressively eating the ice cream, finishing the entire tub out of pure spite. By the time he walked out, casually drying his own hair with a towel, he took one look at me and completely froze.
"First, you take a freezing cold shower. Second, your hair is still completely wet. Third, you're eating a giant tub of ice cream while sitting directly under the blasting AC?" he asked, throwing his hands up in utter disbelief and worry.
"Why do you care?" I repeated around my spoon.
I threw the empty tub onto the nightstand and immediately lied down, pulling the blankets over my shoulders. Keifer just shook his head, letting out a long, heavy sigh. He walked over to his side of the bed and climbed in beside me. After a moment, he carefully slid his arm around my waist, trying to pull me close.
I violently jerked away. "Don't touch me!" I snapped into the dark room.
He sighed again, sounding exhausted. "Jayjay, please..."
"Let me sleep, Keifer!" I barked.
He finally went quiet. I lay there completely still, listening closely as the minutes ticked by. After a while, his breathing finally slowed down into a deep, relaxed rhythm. I hadn't gone to sleep yet because I knew this idiot would instinctively try to hug me the second he drifted off, so I had intentionally waited for him to fall asleep first.
But as the room grew quieter and the cold air settled in, my own exhaustion finally caught up to me. Sleep heavily took over, and my eyes drifted shut.
Keifer's POV.
I woke up suddenly when I felt the mattress vibrating beside me. Someone was shivering violently. Of course, it was Jayjay.
I blinked my eyes open in the dark and looked down at her. Her face was completely pale, her lips were trembling, and she was curled up into a tight, freezing ball under the blankets. Her hair was still damp against the pillow.
I knew it.
That stubborn girl had actually managed to freeze herself after that ice-cold shower, leaving her hair wet, and eating a whole tub of ice cream directly under the blasting AC. I checked the time on my phone—it was 3:29 AM.
"Jay?" I whispered, reaching out to press my palm against her forehead.
The moment my skin made contact with hers, my heart dropped. She was burning hot, yet her entire body was shaking from severe chills.
"K-Keif..." she muttered sleepily.
I moved closer to hug her immediately, but she suddenly forced her eyes open and tried to push me away. "Don't—achooo!—touch me!" she ordered weakly.
"Jay, you caught a cold," I said, reaching under her pillow to grab the AC remote. But even while sick, her reflexes were too fast—she snatched it first.
"The AC will stay on! Achoo!" she declared stubbornly.
"Jay, stop being so stubborn right now. You're sick!" I scolded.
She just glared at me, refusing to say another word. She lay back down and aggressively turned her back on me.
This girl will really never learn. Without wasting another second, I moved right up against her and wrapped my arms tightly around her. I pressed her back securely against my chest, resting my chin in the crook of her neck, and locked her legs between mine so she couldn't squirm away.
"Keifer, you stupid idiot! Achoo! Let me go!" she shouted, trying to break free. But I didn't budge an inch.
"Jay, you're sick. Just let me turn off the AC," I said.
I easily reached over her, grabbed the remote from her weak grip this time, and shut the AC off completely. Once she finally ran out of energy and stopped fighting me, I let her go for a brief second to march over to the wardrobe. I grabbed the thickest, heaviest blanket we owned, walked back, and wrapped it tightly around her like a burrito. Then, I climbed back into bed and wrapped both my arms and legs around her again, completely trapping her so she couldn't move or kick the blankets off.
She was shivering so hard, sneezing every single minute, and even starting to cough. Realizing she needed help, I got up again and quietly went to grab the medicine box. When I walked back to the bed with a glass of water and the pills, she instantly buried her face deeper into the blankets, refusing to take them.
"Jay, take the medicine," I urged.
She peeked out from the edge of the blanket, narrowing her eyes. "Nah. They're bitter."
"You have a raging fever, you're sneezing, and you're coughing. You need to get better, so hurry up and swallow these," I demanded gently.
Making a million dramatic faces, she slowly sat up. I carefully placed a pillow behind her back to support her and handed her the pills. She grimaced and made some ridiculous, hilarious faces as she swallowed them, but she actually took them without a fight.
Once she set the glass down, I looked at her softly. "I'm sorry about earlier."
She snapped her head toward me, her eyes still flashing with lingering anger. "No."
She immediately lay back down, turning away. I slid right back to my side of the bed, trapping her securely in my arms and legs all over again so she stayed warm.
"Baby, darling, sweetheart, my queen, my wifey, my life, my absolutely everything... please forgive me," I whispered softly directly into her ear.
That did it. She finally turned around to face me. The second she did, I leaned down and pressed a long, gentle kiss onto her burning forehead. A small, helpless smile finally broke through her pale lips.
"Fine. But you're not off the hook yet," she grumbled, trying to pull away from my grip.
Instead of letting go, I tightened my arms around her waist. She gave me a sharp glare, so I just pouted back at her with the most innocent face I could make. Seeing that I wasn't going to let her go, she finally gave up and stopped moving.
After a little while, the medicine kicked in and she fell fast asleep. In her sleep, she naturally wrapped her small arms right around my waist, mumbling something soft and unintelligible against my chest as she snuggled close for warmth. I smiled to myself in the dark, resting my chin on her head, and finally fell asleep right along with her.
I woke up again, and by the look of the bright light streaming through the curtains, the sun had already risen high into the sky. I grabbed my phone to check the time—it was 2:41 PM. We had actually slept for that long.
I looked down at Jayjay, who was still fast asleep beside me. Wanting to check her condition, I picked up the thermometer from the side table and carefully slid it under her armpit. She stirred slightly at the cool touch, immediately moving closer to me to seek my warmth. After a few moments, the thermometer beeped. I slipped it out and checked the reading; her fever had dropped a little bit compared to last night, but she was still burning up.
I quietly got out of bed and headed downstairs to the kitchen. Since she was sick, I made a nice, soft breakfast for her: some lightly toasted bread, sliced apples, a banana, and a mug of hot milk. I also went ahead and prepared some warm soup for her to eat a little later.
Balancing the breakfast tray carefully in my hands, I walked back upstairs. I pushed the bedroom door open with my foot and nudged it shut behind me. I set the tray down on the nightstand and gently shook her shoulder to wake her up.
Her long eyelashes fluttered, and she opened her eyes.
"Morning, baby," I said softly.
She offered me a weak, tired smile. She blinked, looking around the room for a second before slowly sitting up.
"Morning..." she muttered, her voice still raspy from the cold.
I leaned over to adjust the pillows behind her back so she could lean against them comfortably, and then I sat down right beside her. Without a word, she rested her heavy head against my shoulder while I held the food. I began carefully feeding her, bite by bite. She ate very slowly, clearly not having much of an appetite, but at least she was eating.
Once she finished, I placed the empty tray back on the table and helped her lie down comfortably again. I pulled the heavy blankets all the way up over her shoulders to keep her warm. Next, I took a small cloth, dipped it into cold water, wrung it out, and gently placed it across her hot forehead to help break the fever.
The moment the cloth touched her skin, her hand shot out from under the blanket and grabbed my other hand tightly. She nuzzled her cheek right into my palm, holding onto me like a lifeline as she quickly drifted back to sleep.
She shifted around a little while later, her eyes opening as she woke up again.
"Keif... my head hurts," she cried softly, tears brimming in her eyes from the painful pressure.
"Come here," I murmured gently.
I shifted back against the headboard, and she immediately crawled over, placing her head right into my lap. I slowly ran my fingers through her soft hair, massaging her scalp to ease the pain. She reached up and gripped my other arm, holding onto it tightly.
After some time, the soothing motion worked, and she fell fast asleep again. I reached for the pack of wet wipes on the nightstand and carefully wiped her face to cool her down, staring at her peaceful, sleeping features. Exhausted from the long night and day of worrying, I rested my head back against the wooden headboard, keeping my arms securely around her, and fell asleep right alongside her.
I woke up again after a little while and immediately checked on Jayjay. Her temperature had dropped—it wasn't dangerously high anymore, but it wasn't completely back to normal either. It was just lingering there.
Moving as slowly as possible, I carefully slid her head off my lap and onto a soft pillow, then stood up to stretch my stiff muscles. Before leaving the room, I leaned down to press a soft kiss onto her warm forehead, then headed downstairs to heat up the soup I had prepared earlier.
A few minutes later, I walked back into the bedroom carrying the steaming bowl of soup and set it down carefully on the nightstand. Sitting on the edge of the mattress, I gently kissed her forehead again to wake her.
"Jay, wake up. You need to eat something," I said softly.
She let out a weak groan, her eyes still tightly shut. Instead of waking up, she reached out blindly, grabbed my arm, and hugged it tightly against her chest like a plushie. I chuckled softly, shaking my arm gently to try again until her long eyelashes finally fluttered open.
I helped her sit up, propping the pillows up behind her back, and began feeding her the warm broth spoon by spoon. The steam from the hot soup immediately made her stuffy nose start to run. I quickly grabbed a tissue from the box and handed it over. She sniffed and wiped her nose while I let out a quiet chuckle at how cute she looked.
Once she finished the very last drop of the soup, she leaned forward, completely exhausted, and rested her forehead heavily against my shoulder.
"Keifer... I'm so tired, but I literally didn't even do anything today," she mumbled, sounding completely confused by her own body.
"That's just what happens when you get sick, baby. Your body is working hard to fight off the fever," I explained, running a hand gently over her back.
She looked up at me, her eyes droopy. "My head hurts again."
"Come here," I murmured. I brought my hand up to her face, using my thumbs to gently massage her forehead and temples to ease the painful pressure. "How does that feel? Better?"
"A little better..." she muttered, closing her eyes as she relaxed into my touch.
I smiled down at her. "Okay, now you need to rest." I leaned down and kissed the top of her head, urging her to lie back down under the blankets.
But after a few quiet moments, she peeked out again. "Keifer... water."
"Okay, hold on," I said. I helped her sit up on the edge of the bed so she wouldn't choke, then quickly went downstairs to the kitchen to fetch a fresh, cool glass of water.
When I came back up and handed it to her, she wrapped both of her small hands around the glass, holding it tightly as she drank it down.
"Do you still hate me?" I asked her and she smiled sheepishly.
"Just a little" she muttered and I chuckled.
The End 🌸.
Target 🎯.
15+ comments.